Sister
by Whovian overload River Song
Summary: Continued from my fic "Clara". Last time I was experimenting with minimal dialogue. Now I'm seeing how lots of dialogue works out. Not Beta'd, let me know if there are mistakes.


"It's raining it's pouring the old man is boring."

"Snoring," the Doctor corrected.

"Why is he snoring?"

"Because he's sleeping."

"Then he must be boring," Clara concluded.

He chuckled, eyes crinkling at the edges more than they already were. "Well, not everyone likes to go out when it's pouring." He spun the umbrella in his hands to exaggerate his point. Raindrops flew off the hydrophobic surface in all directions.

His daughter giggled from where she crouched over a muddy puddle and finished the rhyme, "He bumped his head and went to bed and couldn't get up in the morning." When she stopped, she looked up at him in deep concentration. "Daddy, what's a different rhyme for pouring?"

He thought about this, starting to replace the letters in his head. "Abhorring... boring… hoarding…" He said a few nonsense rhymes like "joring" and "koring" before he stopped saying those ones out loud. "Ignoring… roaring… soaring—"

Clara cut him off, "What soars in the rain? Not birds."

"Airplanes, I suppose."

"Don't they get canceled?"

"No, that's usually only if the wind is very bad."

She thought some more and decided that she needed a different rhyme. "Gimme more."

"Touring… Storring… exploring—"

She paused him again, "What explores in the rain?"

"You do," he replied affectionately.

She smiled back in the way that made her look just like her mother. It felt a little more worth it now to trek outside with her while River was inside and close to giving birth to Clara's sister.

She sang once more, "It's raining it's pouring, I am exploring." She picked up a soggy stick with her tiny fingers and jabbed at the mud, then dropped the stick and used her fingers instead.

"You're going to get cold," the Doctor murmured, glancing in the direction of the house.

"No, I'm not."

"Are you not cold?"

"No… I mean a little, but I don't want to go in yet."

"Don't you want to be there when your sister is born?"

"I thought you said she wasn't coming for a whole 'nother few hours." She looked at him acussationaly.

"Well… yes… probably." He glanced at the house again. They were only in the front yard and could still hear River inside with the midwife letting out very loud sounds every four and a half minutes or so—not that he was counting.

"Does it hurt to have a baby?" Clara asked.

"Yes. Unless you have an anesthetic."

"What's that an Anna… Anna-set-ick?"

"Anesthetic. It's like medicine and it makes the pain go away."

"Why doesn't Ms. Baby-Doctor-Lady give one to Mummy?"

"Mummy can't have that kind of medicine. It'd make her and your sister sick."

"But she hurts," Clara frowned. "I can hear her."

"I know." He tore his eyes away from the house to look back at her. "It's alright though, your mummy is very strong." He said with an encouraging smile.

"Does my little sister hurt?" Clara fretted.

"No. She's probably fine."

"Then why do babies cry when they come out? Do they have headaches?"

"No, it's because they're breathing for the first time. And it's a very big change from being inside their mummies to being in the outside world."

"I don't want her to be scared!"

"She's got you and I and Mummy to make her feel safe. Tell you what, I bet we can go make her _and_ Mummy better by keeping them company"

"I wanna sing to her when she comes out," Clara informed, finally taking her father's hand with her clean one and allowing him to bring them in.

"I think that's a brilliant idea."

—

Pain curled through her like smoke. Hot embers burned at the base of her hips releasing dense ash that flooded up and disappeared somewhere near her ribs. It licked the edges of her hearts, echoing around her back like thunder.

It wasn't her first storm but she was dizzy from it, exhausted from the will of her own body. The lightning erupted from her lungs in the form of deafening shouts, and she clung desperately whatever was near and—and that wasn't the midwife's hand...

The gold ring with a green embed stone in it told her that this was her husband's. He seemed unscathed by her fire, whispering to breathe as she blazed and finally simmered down.

"We're back." He kissed the side of her head.

"I noticed," she panted, leaning heavily on her forearms over the back of the sofa.

A wet hand by her leg had her attention drawn to their four-year-old. "Hi, Mummy."

"Why are your hands wet, darling?"

"Daddy said I had to wash them 'cos I was touching the mud. I saved a worm!"

"That's very sweet of you." River murmured between heavy breaths. She was leaning against the Doctor now, trying to appreciate the moment of rest before the next pain came.

"Can I help catch her?" Clara asked.

"I'm going to be doing that bit, but you can hold her very soon after," the midwife offered. She was seated nearby, but for the most part letting River dictate her own methods for coping with the labour.

"I but I wanna help," the girl pouted.

"You can help your mummy by telling her she's doing very well."

"Good job, Mummy! My little sister's gonna come out soon!" Clara chirped at her mother.

River smiled weakly. "Thank you, sweetie. I—ngh!" Another pain took her before she could finish.

"She's hurting again," Clara observed worriedly.

"It's normal," her father reminded over the groans of her mother.

"How long 'till my sister's here?"

"Not long now." This answer was from the midwife again. "Within the hour."

"Really!?" Clara's excitement easily grew.

"Yes, really." The Doctor nodded with an amused tone. River wished the time was shorter, ready for this to be done with.

Clara was curious about everything and birth wasn't some secret operation meant only for the eyes of doctors and mothers. (Humans seemed to think that, but half of them didn't even know what a tampon was properly used for, so their ideals were not held in high regard in the Song household.) Regardless of the human in River, she was 51st-century woman, so her daughter was welcomed for the whole process with all her probing questions.

"How did my sister get in there?" Clara asked.

The midwife almost laughed as the Doctor started, "Well…" his mind turned, trying to think of how to describe sex to a four-year-old without getting into the details. "I put my DNA in Mummy and it met up with her DNA and then it turned into a baby and grew to make your sister."

"You put your DNA in _there_?" She pointed to River's rounded midsection. "Ew!"

"I must have found a way to suck it up." He murmured, winking at River. She batted his arm in response. There was a pause in the talking as River let out another loud groan and tried not to curse in the presence of her daughter.

"Will she like me?" Clara asked after a moment.

"I'm sure she will," the Doctor hummed.

"But what if she doesn't?"

"She will."

Clara thought for a moment, looking at her mother's round belly. "Will I ever have a baby inside me?"

"If you want to when you're older." He shrugged.

"When I'm ten?" That sounded pretty old to her.

"Older than that."

"When I'm as old as you and Mummy?"

"Sure."

"What if I don't want to?" She frowned.

"Then you don't have to."

"Can I have a puppy instead?"

"Of course, sweetheart," River smiled weakly.

"Can we get one soon so my sister can have it, too?"

"We'll think about it," the Doctor said, distracted as River's hand tightened around his.

"Pleeeaaseeee?"

"Clara, I said we'll think about it. Ask us after your sister is born."

Another pause during which the Doctor's hand was crushed a bit more and then River was gasping out to the midwife, "I need to push."

"Let's check and see, hm?" The midwife rose and the Doctor helped River to the front of the sofa to sit, Clara following curiously. River obediently parted her legs when asked, mostly focused on breathing and not the poking and prodding that was going on where the midwife was examining.

Clara unsurprisingly started with a barrage of questions directed at the midwife and got thorough, satisfactory explanations about what cervix were, why they dilated and effaced, and how one measured these things. The adults had drawn little diagrams for her a few hours ago which she insisted on keeping in her room for reference.

A contraction, many questions, and a dilation check later, and the midwife was nodding to River that she could push as she felt the need. Only a moment after that was River red-faced and bearing down.

"Is it happening?" Clara asked eagerly. She received a few nods, but no direct 'yes'. Each adult seemed very focused on River, and River focused on the task at hand.

After a few pushes, Clara peered over the midwife's shoulder to see what could be so engaging and was not disappointed. "Is that my sister?"

The midwife nodded. The Doctor looked slightly surprised. "Already?"

"It's her head," Clara informed, patting the top of her own brown curls. "She's got soggy hair."

He smiled, cut off by River's cry before he could say anything more. He knew subsequent children were supposedly born faster than the first, but at this rate, it would take less than twenty minutes before the baby was in their arms.

"Are you sure she doesn't hurt?" Clara stared.

"I'm sure… Remember, Mummy needs to focus right now, so let's stay quiet, yeah?"

Clara obediently stopped asking questions, recalling a conversation her parents had with her a few days ago about the behavior required to be present for this.

The Doctor's attention was split between everyone. River took up most of it as he held her through each coming pain and wiped the sweat off her face. He watched bother Clara's and the midwife's faces closely for clues on how things were progressing. The latter was hard to read, but his daughter's poorly concealed enthusiasm grew every time the baby inched forwards.

He founded it unpredictably different staying next to his wife instead of delivering their baby like he did for Clara. There was a specific synchronization he had with River that he hadn't before as he moved with her when she tensed and breathed with her as she panted. Likewise, watching someone else be the first one to hold his child felt almost intrusive.

Clara couldn't hold back anymore, practically jumping next to the midwife. "Ooh, she's almost here! Her head came out!"

"Yes, just a few pushes now," the midwife nodded, cradling the youngest daughter's head and using a finger to gently feel around her neck.

"What are you doing?" Clara frowned.

"Checking to see if the cord is around her neck."

"Cord?"

"The umbilical cord. It attaches Mummy and Baby together, like a rope. Sometimes babies can get tangled in it."

"Oh. What if it does?"

"Don't worry about that. Keep pushing, River."

"My sister is really pale."

"Well she's been living inside Mummy," the Doctor spoke up. "There's no sun in there."

"There's no sun out here." Clara pointed out.

"But we go on adventures with sun, don't we, love?"

"Oh, yeah." She nodded, then bounced a little more as she watched her sister become more than just a head. "Oh, there's the baby rope! It's on her shoulder."

"That's fine. One more push!" the midwife announced to River who gave her last push a strong effort and guttural noise before releasing her breath and flopping against her husband back with relief.

"Mummy, my little sister came out!"

River smiled weakly and gestured wordlessly for Clara to come closer. The girl moved away from her the midwife climb up onto the couch and curl up under her mother's arm. As she did, there came a feeble whimpering from between River's legs which gave way to cries from small lungs.

Clara watched in amazement as the midwife moved her newly-existent little sister onto River's chest. River disentangled her hand from the Doctor's to hold the baby.

"Why is she sticky?" Clara asked.

"Birth is a little sticky," River explained breathlessly.

"You're sticky, too," Clara observed. She meant both with sweat and with the all the fluid she'd witnessed passing.

"Yes, it's alright."

"Is that it?" She looked up at her mother.

"Is that what, darling?"

"You're done now and no more babies or stuff is gonna come out?"

River's chuckle was more of heavy breath due to her exhaustion. "No more babies, my love. But there was still one more thing to come out."

Clara frowned at this. "If it's not a baby, then why aren't you done yet?"

The midwife took the liberty of explaining what a placenta was to the oldest daughter as River closed her eyes for a moment. The newest family member squirmed on her chest and River soon recognized the baby's word for _hungry_. She opened her eyes once more and adjusted the baby so she could nurse her.

"What are you doing, Mummy?" Clara's attention was drawn back to River as the baby went quiet to nurse.

"Feeding her."

"That's where the baby milk comes out?" She pointed to River's chest, knowing that babies could only drink milk.

River hummed an affirmative, then winced. Clara frowned and looked at her father who explained gently that it was just the placenta and not, in fact, another little sister.

Clara went silent for a moment, which was impressive for her. She watched her new sister nurse and glanced between her two parents. "What's her name?"

River and the Doctor looked at each other at the same time, then answer softly together, "Alsolia."


End file.
